Responsibilities
by HaddocksOrTails
Summary: Someone requested an unusual pregnancy story on tumblr. Here it is. (Post Httyd2)
She's been avoiding him – it was quite obvious after only two days.

It's not that they had much time for each other; the renovations after Drago's attack still required a lot of effort from Hiccup, not to mention the growing number of duties (both serious and trifling) he had to perform as the new chief. As for Astrid, she had her own demanding responsibilities. She was both in charge of the Dragon Academy and the Guard and dealing with the new trainees and the veterans was no picnic in the park.

Despite all the hardships, they managed to steal a couple of moments every day for themselves, making sure that the other isn't collapsing under the unwanted burdens while sharing some much needed terms of endearment.

But on Thor's Day she disappeared and had been absent from his life ever since. He knew it didn't mean good.

At least, it was easy to find her; he spotted her at the Cove from the air. She was standing in the middle of a clearing with her trustworthy ax in hand, engaged in a killing spree against the surrounding vegetation.

He landed a few feet away from her, got off from the back of his dragon and sat on a flat rock that was big enough for both of them. He patiently waited for her while she finished murdering the trees. She only swung the ax a couple more times, then let out an annoyed grunt and dropped it on the ground. She walked to the rock and quietly sat next to him.

Hiccup took Astrid's hand and examined her palm. The handle of her ax drew deep red stripes on her skin. It must have been quite hurtful, so he lifted her hand and placed a considerate little kiss on it.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sounding worried.

"Nothing," she answered quickly. "Everything," she admitted a moment later.

"You want to talk about it?"

There was a moment of silence, but then she nodded. "Yes, we need to talk, Hiccup."

He quirked an eyebrow. He knew that girls behaved enigmatically from time to time, but not his Astrid, she was always so straightforward, so self-assured.

"You know I have those monthly cramps..." She started then paused. His eyes widened. Of course he knew about the thing that happened to the ladies every month, but he wasn't really an expert on the topic, it wasn't something they had an in depth discussion about. But he knew that sometimes her stomach was hurting for a few hours and it must have been really bad, because even though she had a high tolerance for pain, she didn't take it well.

He gently brought her to his chest and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Astrid," he whispered into her damp, but strawberry-scented hair.

She pulled back and shook her head. "It's not that. I _don't_ have the cramps."

He was puzzled. "But... that's good news, isn't it?"

She shook her head again and her voice dropped an octave. "No. It's actually very bad news."

Huh. That sounded crazy. Complaining about the lack of pain? Was that another Viking thing he couldn't relate to? Hiccup was overly confused, especially when he noticed she was on the verge of crying. "Astrid, I'm sorry, but I don't get it..."

She sought shelter in his arms. Her sudden move surprised him, but he soon hold her tight, instinctively knowing what she wanted him to do. Only then, when she felt safe and warm, did she start to talk.

"I'm pregnant," she said simply, letting the information sink in. He was silent at first; his warm hands were caressing her back, bringing her closer to his chest. It was hard to react. It was difficult to say anything, to find the right words, to ask a good question…

"Well, I've always wanted to have a family with you," he said earnestly.

"We could have waited a couple more years..."

He lifted his hands and gently cupped her face. "Freya had different plans for us."

She scrunched her nose, but seemed a tiny bit less concerned. "Don't you dare to mention the goddess of sex and fertility, Haddock. She symbolizes all the reasons why you and I are in trouble."

He smiled encouragingly and kissed he, she responded to it with hungry lips.

Astrid blushed when they parted. "Mhm. That was exactly what got us into this mess..."

He shrugged. "I know. I mean, I guess, I was there when it happened..."

Her sharp fist landed on his arm exactly on that spot, which hurt the most. He grimaced in pain, but did not complain.

"Of course you were there, you idiot! I can't make a baby by myself."

"Yeah, okay, sorry..." He was thinking for a minute before asking the next question, debating whether it was worth another well-placed hit. "Do you know when it happened? I thought we... or well, _you_ were very careful about this whole hmm matter..."

This time no fists came landing on his tender muscles. "Yeah, I do know it," she whispered.

He curiously raised an eyebrow while she continued her quiet speech. "You remember the night your father died? I came to comfort you and..."

It was almost 6 weeks past the fateful day, but Hiccup's eyes filled with tears immediately. Yes, he did remember her crawling next to him. He remembered how lost and lonely he felt and how thankful he was when she offered him comfort.

They cuddled for a while and it was nice and he felt less vulnerable and although he never even thought of making love to her, they somehow stroked off the clothes of each other.

He never opened his eyes. It was very unusual, he really liked looking at her while being intimate, but this was different... He just wanted to know, to feel that he was not alone.

He remembered how soft and warm her flesh felt under his cold fingertips, how she told him she loved him, and how her mere presence was enough to calm his wretched soul for a few blissful moments.

He didn't remember how he found his way inside her, but he did remember connecting with her, feeling her hot breathes on his neck, while she was mutely moaning under his weight. He did remember how tight he held her - in hindsight it couldn't have been too comfortable for her, but she never complained.

He remembered how he poured into her and suddenly lost all his strength, making him collapse on top of her. The rest of the night was vague; he probably lost consciousness or just unceremoniously fell asleep.

He looked at her worried face now, she must have thought that she had opened the hardly healing wound he had since his greatest loss, but knowing that their child was conceived on the day he had lost his father was oddly felt like a much needed relief, he never hoped for.

"It was a bit of turmoil that day and I-I forgot about that fricking tea and..." she was blushing and stuttering, trying to find an excuse, but Hiccup didn't think she needed one.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm definitely not angry of you or anything like that. If I could, I would kick my own ass for not being as responsible as I should have been, but..."

She cut her off. "Wait a minute... You are not going to blame yourself for it, right? Because I don't think it's your fault."

He shook his head. "I don't blame myself for the one time... I'm mad at myself in general. I should have respected your virtue, wait with everything until after we are married."

The more she heard the more she became astonished. "You think sleeping with me was a mistake from day one?"

"Oh, gods, no! That's not how I meant it... I like sleeping with you. No, I love sleeping with you..." He cupped her face and placed a very loud kiss on her rosy lips to give more emphasize to his words. "No, Astrid, I love everything about you, and part of this everything is that you are so awfully pretty and there is hardly a moment when I don't think about how much I love being intimate with you, but... I think I was too selfish. Had I had a little self-control or discipline, I wouldn't have gotten you into this trouble."

She smiled, it was weird, and he didn't understand it. "Oh, come on, Haddock, it was my decision and my decision only."

Now he seemed confused, but she quickly continued. "I wanted to have that connection with you. I craved to have the physical part of the relationship that everyone seemed to be so excited about. And... I don't know about other people, but for me, being together with you is when the world becomes an unbreakable, undefeatable whole. It means a lot more to me than fulfilling some indecent urges – which is also a good, nay, great thing – but more importantly, it is about connecting with you on a level that I have never even dreamed of before we had experienced it. Remember how I hurt Snotlout every time he got an inch too close to me? I never did that to you, because I've always loved when you were near me. And as we grew older, that distance between us shrank, until there wasn't enough space between us to fit in a blade of grass or a gasp of air..."

His eyes got teary again. She rarely discussed her feelings with him, not because they weren't there, but it seemed unimportant to talk about them when she had other ways to show her affection. Like now, as she leaned closer to him, pressing her chest to his, searching for his mouth with her swollen lips. They could not resist each other and they didn't want to.

His hands ran up her sides while she grabbed two handfuls of messy, russet hair. She bit his lower lip, it was a bit unfair, because she knew it drove him crazy every time she did it. In response, he started kneading her breasts, making her moan into their kiss, but his fingers soon stopped their delicate work. He broke their kiss and pulled away.

His confusion painted his cheeks pink. "Am-am I allowed to do that?" He mumbled sheepishly.

She raised an eyebrow, she didn't quite get it, the damage was already done… Eh, probably not the best choice of words, but they were not risking anything anymore.

"I mean, is it okay to _touch_ someone who is pregnant? Or you know, to do this or that with her..."

She shrugged.

He leaned further away and ran his hand through his disheveled hair. "Eh, my father had the talk with me, but he didn't mention the rules for pregnant sex. I guess, it didn't occur to him as a possibility, since I was only fourteen…"

She looked at him with eyes wide open, then she suddenly laughed up. "Oh, gods, Hiccup, your father had the talk with you? Why didn't you sneak away like you always did in every uncomfortable situation?"

"Eh, I had no choice. I think he saw you kiss me on Snoggletog when Toothless was missing, so he thought it was time to privately embarrass me. A couple days later he came up to my room, stood in the doorway and took my prosthetic. There was no way out."

She giggled. "Wish I had been a fly on that wall."

"Oh come on, you wish to have heard my father say 'lady parts' and 'carefully insert'?"

She considered it for a moment then shook her head.

"Trust me; it was the worst morning of my life."

"I have to admit, he had taught you well," she said with a devilish smile and a sultry glance. He hesitated for a second, because she was so beautiful and tempting, but then something suddenly hit him. There was one thing his father said during that awkward early morning conversation that he couldn't really make heads or tails of back then, but is crystal clear now.

"Listen, Astrid… I have to take responsibility for my actions."

Her seducing lips turned into an O of surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

He sighed hard. "I need to talk to your father. Pronto."

She was quiet. Yeah. They have to talk to their parents, it hasn't occurred to her until he mentioned it. Now, her mom isn't a problem, and Valka simply _cannot be_ a problem, but her father, well, he is a whole other story…

She pressed her lips together, trying to come up with an idea.

"Can we flee?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

Hiccup looked at her and shook his head amusedly. "I don't think it's an option. I'm the chief of this island, you know."

"Yeah, right..." She tried to think harder, her father is really not the person to mess with. He is not a bad person or a terrible father, quite the opposite, but he has a temper.

She still remembers how he reacted after he had learnt that she had a boyfriend… There was some screaming at the forge the next day and Einar Hofferson, her father, threatened Hiccup with making some alterations to the lower part of his body with his carving knife, if he… well, even thought about _dishonoring_ her daughter.

"Okay, what if we simply kept it a secret?" Gods, she had the lamest ideas, but anything felt like a more pleasant option than facing her father.

"And tell him that your belly grew because you have a newly found crush on ale?"

"Oh, shit…" Another thing that didn't occurred to her, the physical changes…

He took her right hand gently, lifted it to his mouth and left a few encouraging pecks on her fingertips.

"Astrid, it will be fine."

She shook her head; knowing her father, it _cannot be fine_.

He pulled her close and kissed her again, before making a confession.

"Babe, the only thing I remember clearly from that awful father-son sex talk is that my dad made me promise that no matter what I would always take responsibility."

She sighed and nodded, he was right. Stoick was right. She was a chicken… this pregnancy clearly didn't do her good…

"Wish me luck," he asked her before he stood up.

TBC


End file.
